Flexible materials processing rotation tool

ABSTRACT

A flexible material processing rotation tool that executes processing against a target material composed of flexible material, and which is characterized by forming or more cutting blade protrusions on the surface of the substrate so that they project upward, formation of an inclined surface on the surface of cutting blade protrusion and formation of cutting blade ridge at the section that projects most upward from among the ridge areas of inclined surface, and by arrangement so that a portion of the inclined surfaces of cutting blade protrusions facing at least in one direction of the circumferential direction of the rotation of the substrate, and arrangement of at least a portion of the remaining inclined surfaces of cutting blade protrusions in at least the other direction of the circumferential direction of the rotation of the substrate.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to JapanesePatent Application No. 2005-290793 filed on Oct. 4, 2005. The content ofthe application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to rotation tools for processing/adjusting thesurfaces of flexible materials such as polishing pads, such assemiconductor wafers pads, formed with a porous substance such as resin,rubber, or polyurethane rubber.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY

In recent years, with advancements in the semiconductor industry, therehas been increasing necessity for processes that provide high-precisionfinishing of metal, semiconductor and ceramic surfaces, etc., andespecially with semiconductor wafers surface, along with improvedintegration there is sought surface finishing in the nanometer order (1/1000 micron). To support this level of highly precise surfacefinishing, CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) using porous pads(polishing cloth) has been widely adopted. CMP polishing is acombination of a mechanical polishing process utilizing such as abrasivegranules and a chemical polishing process through etching with analkaline liquid, acid, etc.

With elapsing of polishing time, the pads used for polishingsemiconductor wafers become filled and generate compression deformities,which surface conditions are changed as a result. That leads togeneration of undesirable factors such as decrease in polishing speedand uneven polishing, so procedures are utilized to support favorablepolishing conditions by keeping fixed the surface conditions of padsthrough periodic processing/adjustment of the pad surfaces.

As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H7-328937 andJapanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-44023, examples offlexible material processing rotation tools used forprocessing/adjustment of these pads are offered by forming on asubstrate surface multiple cutting blade protrusions protruding upward.

This type of flexible material processing rotation toolprocesses/adjusts the pad surface by using a fixed load to press thesubstrate surface against the surface of a pad that is being rotated onan axis, by which the substrate has rotational movement in conjunctionwith the rotational movement of the pad and there isprocessing/adjustment of the pad surface by the cutting bladeprotrusions being pressed against the pad surface.

At this point, there is a problem in that the pad is formed with aflexible material such as urethane foam and at pressing of the rotationtool the pad surface deforms and turns aside, thereby prohibitingsufficient processing by the cutting blade protrusions. In addition,when processed by forcibly pressing the cutting blade protrusionsagainst the pad surface, the process results in crushing of the padsurface, the pores of the pad surface are collapsed, and the pad can nolonger be used for polishing semiconductor wafers.

At that point, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-34266discloses a process in which the cutting blade protrusions are formedwith prescribed direction and all cutting blade protrusions are fixed inarrangement to face in one direction (tool rotation direction forwardside) for the circumferential direction of the substrate of the rotationtool. With this rotation tool, the cutting blade surfaces facing thetool rotation direction forward side are inclined so they graduallyretreat to the tool rotation direction rearward side while following thesubstrate side, and because the cutting blade protrusions have beenformed to penetrate to a deep position in the pad surface contacted bythe cutting blade protrusions from the tool rotation direction forwardside, greater efficiency in processing the pad is enabled.

At this point, regarding pad conditioners utilizing the flexiblematerial processing rotation tool disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 2004-34266, the pad itself which is the target materialis rotationally moved along with rotation of the tool rotation aroundthe axis, and the contact direction between the pad and rotation toolchanges according to their rotation direction and rotation speed. Anexample of the positional relationship between the pad which is thetarget material and the rotation tool is shown in FIG. 9 through FIG.11.

As shown in FIG. 9, with former pad conditioners, at rotation of largediameter pad P in pad rotation direction R, processing is executed bypressing cutting blade protrusion 2 of rotation tool 1 while beingrotated in tool rotation direction T. In the central region of pad P(cross section area X-X of FIG. 9) tool rotation direction T and padrotation direction R are established in mutual opposition, so pad Pmakes contact from the tool rotation direction T forward side, as shownin FIG. 10, and greater efficiency in processing of pad P by cuttingblade protrusion 2 is enabled.

On the other hand, at the peripheral side of pad P (cross section Y-Y ofFIG. 9), tool rotation direction T and pad rotation direction R are inthe identical direction. At this point, when the rotation speed of pad Pand the rotation speed of rotation tool 1 is the identical, the relativespeed of pad P to rotation tool 1 becomes zero and it is not possible toprocess pad P with rotation tool 1, so to prevent the relative speedfrom becoming zero, the rotation speed of pad P and the rotation speedof rotation tool 1 are set to generate a prescribed difference in speed.

However, it is not possible to obtain a relative speed for the inner andouter sides of pad P regardless of how much the rotation speed ofrotation tool 1 is set higher than the rotation speed of pad P. andfurthermore, at slowing of the rotation speed of pad P to slower thanthe rotation speed of rotation tool 1, pad P contacts the cutting bladeprotrusion 1 from the tool rotation direction T rearward side, as shownin FIG. 11, and in either case, regardless of how the shape of cuttingblade protrusion 2 is formed for penetrating deeply into pad P, theprocess cannot efficiently process pad P at the peripheral side of padP, which is a problem.

In this way, a problem exists in that an area is generated on the pad Psurface that is not sufficiently processed due to the positionalrelationship between rotation tool 1 and pad P.

This invention is one that considers the described situations and has asits purpose to offer a flexible material processing rotation tool withcapability for stable processing/adjustment the surface of a targetmaterial even when processing by pressing the rotation tool against atarget material that is being moved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To obtain the stated purpose, this invention is a flexible materialprocessing rotation tool for processing a target material which iscomposed of a flexible material and is moving, and it is characterizedby formation on the surface of a substrate two or more cutting bladeprotrusions protruding upwards, and the upper surfaces of these cuttingblade protrusions are inclined surfaces made inclined in relation to theparallel flat surface on the bottom surface of the substrate, andformation of a cutting blade ridge on at least the part of the inclinedsurface area protruding furthest upward, and by said inclined surfacesof a portion of the cutting blade protrusions arranged to face at leastone circumferential direction for rotation of said substrate, and atleast a portion of said inclined surfaces of the remaining cutting bladeprotrusions arranged to face at least the other circumferentialdirection.

With the flexible material processing rotation tool having thisstructure, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion is aninclined surface that is made inclined relative to the parallel flatsurface of the bottom surface of the substrate, and a cutting bladeridge is formed at least on the area protruding furthest upward in thearea of the ridge of the inclined surface, and these inclined surfacesare arranged at least in circumferential direction for the rotation ofthe substrate, specifically by facing the direction not a radial of thecircle formed by the rotational track of the substrate, so that atcontact to the target material from the side on which are establishedthe cutting blade ridges on the cutting blade protrusion surfaces, bypressing of the cutting blade protrusions into the target materialsurface, an elastic waveform is created by great indentation of thetarget material formed of a flexible material at the area in which areestablished the cutting blade ridges, and elastic recovery occurs alongthe inclined surface at the side extended by these cutting blade ridges.Accordingly, by deeply penetrating the target material with the cuttingblade ridges formed on the cutting blade protrusion, greater efficiencyin processing of the target material is enabled.

Therefore, by formation of two or more cutting blade protrusions andarranging to face a portion of the inclined surfaces of these cuttingblade protrusions in the circumferential direction of substraterotation, and arranging at least a portion of the remaining cuttingplate protrusion the other direction of the circumferential direction,even when the target material and tool rotation direction (opposite thecircumferential direction) are from opposite sides, the cutting bladeridges of the portion of inclined surfaces established as inclinedsurfaces in the rotation direction forward side will penetrate deeplyinto the target material, which enables greater efficiency in processingof the target material.

Accordingly, even when the rotation tool is made to contact the movingtarget material in the opposite direction of the rotation tooldirection, greater efficiency in processing of the target material isenabled, and areas of insufficient processing can be eliminated.

In addition, it is a desirable to enable further increase in efficiencyof processing the target material by formation of the cutting bladeridges on the ridge area of the cutting blade protrusion which extendsalong the cutting blade ridge.

At this point, when angle θ formed between the inclined surface of theupper surface of the cutting blade protrusion and the flat surfaceparallel to the substrate is smaller than 5 degrees, even at deformationof the target material along the inclined surface, it is not possible tocause the cutting blade protrusion to penetrate deeply into the targetmaterial, which results in the possibility of not being capable ofefficiently processing the target material, and when the angle θ islarger than 40 degrees, the rigidity of the cutting blade protrusionbody is insufficient, which results in the possibility of chipping ordeforming the cutting blade protrusion. Accordingly, with this inventionit is desirable to set angle θ formed between the inclined surface ofthe upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion and the flat surfaceparallel to the substrate to within a range of 5 degrees≦θ≦40 degrees.

Furthermore, to obtain these results more reliably, it is desirable toset angle θ formed between the inclined surface of the upper surface ofthe cutting blade protrusion and the flat surface parallel to thesubstrate to within a range of 5 degrees≦θ≦30 degrees.

In addition, regarding these inclined surfaces, it is desirable that thecutting blade protrusions facing one direction of the circumferentialdirection and the cutting blade protrusions facing the other directionbe arranged so that the direction of incline for the inclined surfacesis within a range of ±45 degrees to the center of the circumferentialdirection. Specifically, when looking directly opposed to the substratesurface, the angle formed by the tangent at the intersection point ofthe cutting blade ridge of the circle intersecting the cutting bladeridge of the cutting blade protrusion that implements the rotationcenter of the substrate as a center and the direction of the incline atmaximum angle for the incline surface from that intersection pointshould be less than 45 degrees.

Furthermore, regarding these inclined surfaces, it is desirable that thecutting blade protrusions facing one direction of the circumferentialdirection and the cutting blade protrusions facing the other directionof the circumferential direction comprise than 20% or more of allcutting blade protrusions formed on the substrate.

In addition, by arranging the cutting blade protrusions on the uppersurface of the pedestals protruding upward from the substrate, atpressing of the rotation tool against the target material, the targetmaterial will be pressed by the pedestals, and this enables the areas ofthe cutting blade protrusions on which the cutting blade ridges areestablished to penetrate with stability to a deeper position in thetarget material, and this enables processing by the rotation tool witheven more stability and greater efficiency.

In addition, by forming the cutting blade protrusion with an abrasionresistant material, the wear resistance of the cutting blade protrusionscan be improved, enabling stable processing of the target material overa long time period and lengthening the work life of the rotation tool.On this point, as a concrete example of the wear resistant abrasionmaterial, such as silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon nitride (SiN) aresuggested.

Furthermore, it is possible to further improve the wear resistance ofthe cutting blade protrusions by coating with a diamond film, which canlengthen the work life of the rotation tool.

Further, by setting the height of the areas of the cutting bladeprotrusions on which the cutting blade ridges are formed to 0.03 mm ormore, the penetration depth of the cutting blade ridges to the targetmaterial can be sufficiently assured, and greater efficiency inprocessing of the pad is enabled. In addition, due to changes in height,efficient pad processing is not obtained when the height of the cuttingblade ridges exceeds 0.15 mm, so it is desirable to set the height to0.15 mm or less.

Furthermore, by setting the total length of the ridges of the cuttingblade ridges for all ridges formed on the surface of the substrate towithin a range of 7.5 mm to 80 mm, the cutting blade ridges are pressedinto the pad with an appropriate amount of pressure, and greaterefficiency in processing of the pad is enabled.

Furthermore, at use of the described flexible material processingrotation tool in a conditioner for conditioning a pad by performingprocessing/adjustment of CMP polishing pads, stable processing of theentire pad surface is enabled, and reliable processing of the padsurface with greater efficiency is enabled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: A plane drawing of a substrate of a flexible material processingrotation tool for an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2: A cross section drawing for section Z-Z of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3: A perspective drawing of the pedestal and cutting bladeprotrusion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4: An explanatory drawing of the condition at processing of a padwith the flexible material processing rotation tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5: A plane drawing of a substrate of a flexible material processingrotation tool for another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6: A cross section drawing for section V-V of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7: A plane drawing of a substrate of a flexible material processingrotation tool for a further embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8: A perspective drawing of the chip of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9: A drawing showing a pad conditioner using a former type offlexible material processing rotation tool.

FIG. 10: A cross section drawing for section X-X of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11: A cross section drawing for section Y-Y of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results ofWorking Example 1.

FIG. 13: A drawing showing the pad cross sectional shape for testresults of Working Example 1.

FIG. 14: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results ofWorking Example 2.

FIG. 15: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results ofWorking Example 3.

FIG. 16: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results ofWorking Example 4.

FIG. 17: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results ofWorking Example 5.

In this way, use of this invention enables offering of a flexiblematerial processing rotation tool capable of stable processing/adjustingthe surface of a target material even when the process presses therotation tool against a moving process surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following section describes an embodiment of this invention. Theflexible material processing rotation tool of the embodiment is shown inFIG. 1 through FIG. 3.

Substrate 11 of the flexible material processing rotation tool isconstructed with SiC (silicon carbide), and with the axis as the center,it is made a circular shape that is rotated in tool rotation directionT, and it possesses reciprocally parallel surface 11A and bottom surface11B. On surface 11A of substrate 11 is a peripheral region at the radialouter perimeter excluding the interior region, and in this region isformed at least one pedestal 12 protruding upward, and with thisembodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, multiple pedestals 12 are arrangedprotruding upward at approximately equal intervals in thecircumferential direction and form multiple rows in a staggered pattern.

These multiple pedestals 12 each present identical quadrilateral squareshapes, and the surfaces forming square surface shapes are pedestalsurfaces 13, and the entire surface of each pedestal 13 is a flatsurface approximately parallel with the bottom surface 11B of substrate11. The heights of these pedestal surfaces 13 of multiple pedestals 12(height from surface 11A of substrate 11) is reciprocally equal.

In addition, regarding each pedestal surface 13 (flat surface) ofmultiple pedestals 12, within the peripheral region (the peripheralregion including the square-shaped intersection ridge 14 at which isenabled intersection of pedestal surface 13 of pedestal 12 with theperipheral surface (side surface)) at least in a region that excludesthe region of the tool rotation direction T forward side (forward sidefrom the direct line extended by facing the radial peripheral side fromthe axis of substrate 11 formed in a circular shape) and the rearwardside (rearward side from the direct line extended by facing the radialperipheral side from the axis of substrate 11 formed in a circularshape), there is formed at least one cutting blade protrusion 14protruding upward.

With this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, regarding each pedestalsurface 13 of multiple pedestals 12, one cutting blade protrusion 14 isformed protruding upward not only in the tool rotation direction Tforward side within the peripheral region but in the central region thatexcludes all of the peripheral region including the region of the(substrate 11) radial peripheral side and the peripheral side within theperipheral region.

Furthermore, these multiple cutting blade protrusions 14, in order tooffer a square pillar shape each identical in shape to pedestals 12, thepedestal surfaces 13 of pedestals 12 formed in a square shape areactually made a square ring surface shape only from the peripheralregion.

In this way, for each single pedestal 12, a single cutting bladeprotrusion 14 is formed protruding upward in the central region ofpedestal surface 13, so pedestal 12 and cutting blade protrusion 14 areformed as a two-stage protrusion with connection at the same axis forthe pedestal 12 formed as a large outside diameter square-shaped pillarand the cutting blade protrusion 14 formed as a small outside diametersquare-shaped pillar, and the multiple cutting blade protrusions 14exist only in number equal to the multiple pedestals 12 on surface 11Aof substrate 11.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, upper surface 15 of cutting bladeprotrusion 14 is formed to an incline surface made inclined relative toflat surface parallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, and theangle θ formed between the inclined surface of this upper surface 15 andthe flat surface parallel to the bottom surface 11B of substrate 11 isset to 5 degrees≦θ≦40 degrees, and which is more desirable at 5degrees≦θ≦30 degrees.

In addition, the four side surfaces of cutting blade protrusion 14extend perpendicularly from pedestal 13, and of the intersecting ridgesbetween these four side surfaces and the upper surface 15 (inclinedsurface), the intersecting ridge positioned in the location mostseparated from pedestal surface 13 is cutting blade ridge 16 of cuttingblade protrusion 14. In short, inclined upper surface 15 is arranged soas to extend to cutting blade ridge 16. Furthermore, the height (heightfrom surface 11B of substrate 11) of cutting blade ridge 16 of eachcutting blade protrusion 14 is reciprocally equal.

A portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 of the multiple formed cuttingblade protrusions 14 are arranged so that upper surfaces 15 formed asinclined surfaces face at least one side of the circumferentialdirection of substrate 11, specifically a direction not a radial, and atleast a portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 of the remaining cuttingblade protrusions 14 are arranged to face at least the other side of thecircumferential direction of substrate 11, and in this embodiment, asshown in FIG. 2, adjacent cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged toface in opposite directions, and upper surfaces 15 align with thecircumferential direction of substrate 11. In short, along witharranging cutting blade protrusion ridges 16 so as to extend along theradial direction of substrate 11, cutting blade protrusions 14 arearranged with upper surfaces 15 facing one side of the circumferentialdirection and cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged facing the otherside, and they are arranged with an alternating pattern in equal numberfor each row.

In addition, for the cutting blade protrusions 14 formed integrated tosurface 11A of substrate 11, at least upper surfaces 15 are coated witha gas phase diamond film 17, and with this embodiment, the entiresurface of surface 11A of substrate 11 including the multiple cuttingblade protrusions 14 is coated with gas phase diamond film 17 at athickness of 0.5 μm to 50 μm.

In this way, gas phase diamond film 17 is formed spanning the entiresurface of surface 11A of substrate 11 including the multiple pedestals12 and multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 by using, for example, awidely known method such as the method utilizing microwave plasma or themethod utilizing heat filament on the substrate 11 having multiplepedestals 12 and multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 as describedabove.

The flexible materials processing rotation tool constructed in this wayis assembled by adhering a base material composed of such as stainlesssteel or resin to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11 or by installingsubstrate 11 with heat insertion to a cavity formed in a base materialsuch as stainless steel, and afterwards is utilized in actualprocessing.

Then, the assembled flexible material processing rotation tool, bypressing surface 11A of substrate 11 with a fixed load in parallelorientation against the surface of pad P composed of such as a porousresin, rubber, or polyurethane rubber (having independent bubbles) whichis being rotated in pad rotation direction R, substrate 11 executesrotational movement around the rotation axis perpendicular to surface11A and bottom surface 11B facing tool rotation direction T inconjunction with rotational movement of pad P, and processes pad P asthe target material using the cutting blade ridges 16 formed on themultiple cutting blade protrusions 14 that have been pressed intocontact with pad P.

Actually, this is a processing of the surface of pad P by the gas phasediamond film 17 coated onto cutting blade ridges 16. In this way,processing scraps generated at the time pad P is processed by cuttingblade ridges 16 (gas phase diamond film 17) are expelled from such asthe gaps positioned between companion cutting blade protrusions 14 andthe gaps positioned between companion pedestals 12.

Furthermore, when the rotation speed of pad P becomes the same as therotation speed of the flexible material processing rotation tool so thatthe relative speed between pad P and the flexible material processingrotation tool is zero, processing of pad P is not possible, so therotation speed of pad P is set to generate a prescribed difference inrelation to the rotation speed of flexible material processing rotationtool.

With the flexible material processing rotation tool of the structuredescribed above, the upper surface 15 of cutting blade protrusion 14 isan inclined surface, from among the intersecting ridges between uppersurface 15 and the side surfaces the intersecting ridge positioned atthe location furthest separated from pedestal 13 is cutting blade ridge16 of cutting blade protrusion 14, and upper surface 15 is arranged toface the circumferential direction of substrate 11, and therefore atcontact of pad P from the cutting component 14 forward side (the side atwhich cutting blade ridge 16 is established), as shown in FIGS. 4,cutting blade protrusion 14 is pressed into the surface of pad P. andpad P is elastically deformed as a large indentation at the sectionbeing pressed by cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14and it is elastically restored along the inclined surface formed byupper surface 15 at the section when upper surface 15 extends to cuttingblade ridge 16. Accordingly, the cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting bladeprotrusion 14 penetrates deeply into pad P, and processing of pad P withgreater efficiency is enabled. Moreover, because cutting blade ridge 16penetrates deeply into pad P in this way, in actuality, there isproviding of processing to pad P by not only the intersecting ridge butby the sections that include the inclined area ridge of upper surface 15extending cutting blade ridge 16 and the ridge area of the surfaceextending from pedestal 13 in the direction of cutting blade ridge 16.

Then, because a portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 from among themultiple cutting blade protrusions 14 formed are arranged with uppersurface 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 facing one direction of thecircumferential direction of substrate 11, and the remaining cuttingblade protrusions 14 are arranged with upper surfaces 15 facing theother direction of the circumferential direction, even when pad Pcontacts from the rearward side of tool rotation direction T (onecircumferential direction of the substrate) with pad P being rotated athigh speed, processing of pad P is enabled by penetration into pad P bycutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 having uppersurface 15 facing the tool rotation direction T forward side (onecircumferential direction of the substrate). Specifically, even when padP being rotated in pad rotation direction R contacts the rotation toolfrom the tool rotation direction T rearward side, a portion of cuttingblade protrusions 14 and their upper surfaces 15 are inclined surfaceswith cutting blade ridges 16 at the side opposing pad rotation directionR, and processing of pad P with greater efficiency is enabled by thesecutting blade ridges 16, and it is possible to eliminate areas for whichprocessing was insufficient.

Moreover, with this embodiment, cutting blade protrusions 14 havinginclined upper surfaces 15 facing one direction of the circumferentialdirection are established alternately with cutting blade protrusions 14facing the other direction, specifically, the number of each of thesecutting blade protrusions 14 established on substrate 11 is 50%, itfollows that at rotation of pad P in either direction of thecircumferential direction, it is possible to reliably activate highlyefficient processing. Furthermore, even when the upper surfaces 15 ofall cutting blade protrusions 14 are not established in one direction ofthe circumferential direction, it is for example acceptable if cuttingblade protrusions 14 have cutting surfaces 15 facing the radialdirection of substrate 11 are included, but to obtain the effectdescribed above it is desirable for the number of cutting bladeprotrusions 14 having upper surfaces 15 facing one direction or theother direction of the circumferential direction to be 20% or more ofall the cutting blade protrusions 14 formed on substrate 11.

In addition, by setting angle θ formed between the inclined surface ofupper surface 15 of cutting blade protrusion 14 and a flat surfaceparallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, specifically, thesurface perpendicular to the rotational axis of substrate 11, to withinthe range of 5 degrees≦θ≦40 degrees, and preferably within the range 5degree≦θ≦30 degrees, it is possible to prevent chipping of cutting bladeprotrusion 14 by maintaining rigidity of cutting blade protrusion 14,and by enabling deep penetration of cutting blade ridge 16 into pad P byallowing pad P to elastically restore along the inclined surface ofupper surface 15, reliable processing of pad P with greater efficiencyis enabled.

Furthermore, with this embodiment, cutting blade ridge 16 of the cuttingblade protrusion 14 with an inclined surface having upper surface 15facing one direction or the other direction of the circumferentialdirection is formed to extend in the radial direction of substrate 11,and seen from the direction opposed to the surface of substrate 11,upper surface 15 is formed to incline at angle θ in the direction thatintersects with this cutting blade ridge 16. Accordingly, becausecutting blade ridge 16 and upper surface 15 rotate with substrate 11 andpenetrate deeply into pad P with uniformity in the radial direction,with this embodiment, it is possible to process pad P evenly. However,regarding the cutting blade protrusions 14 with inclined surfaces havingupper surfaces 15 facing one direction or the other direction of thecircumferential direction, the direction of incline for upper surface 15at angle θ, specifically, the direction for the inclined surface madeinclined by the maximum angle in relation to a flat surface parallel tobottom surface 11B of substrate 11, need not closely match the tangentat the intersection point with cutting blade ridge 16 of the circleintersecting cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14having the rotational center of substrate 11 as a center as seen fromthe direction opposing surface 11A of substrate 11, and it is acceptableproviding the angle formed between the tangent direction and thedirection for incline with the inclined surface at maximum angle fromthe intersection point is 45 degrees or less.

Further, because cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed on pedestalsurface 13 of pedestal 12 protruding upward from substrate 11, atpressing of the rotation tool against the pad P surface, pad P ispressed by this pedestal 12, which enables stable penetration of cuttingblade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 to a deeper position onpad P, enabling processing by the rotation tool with more stability andgreater efficiency.

In addition, because the depth of penetration to pad P by cutting bladeprotrusion 14 is determined by contact of pedestal surface 13 ofpedestal 12 with pad P surface, processing speed can be controlled byadjusting the height of cutting blade ridge 16 from pedestal surface 13,enabling processing of pad P with greater precision.

Furthermore, because cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed with theabrasion resistant material SiC and the entire surface of cutting bladeprotrusion 14 has been coated with gas phase diamond film 17, the wearresistance of cutting blade protrusion 14 is improved, enabling stableprocessing of pad P over a long time span, thereby allowing thelengthening of the work life of the rotation tool.

Next, the following section describes another embodiment of thisinvention. A flexible material processing rotation tool which is theembodiment of this invention is shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Elementsidentical to those of the previous are labeled with identical symbolsand omitted from the description.

Substrate 11 of this flexible material processing rotation tool isformed with an approximately circular shape with SiC (silicon carbide)as with Embodiment 1, and it has surface 11A and reciprocally parallelbottom surface 11B. In the peripheral region of the radial peripheralside excluding the central region for surface 11A of substrate 11,cutting blade protrusions 14 are directly formed on surface 11A ofsubstrate 11 protruding upward. As shown in FIG. 5, these cutting bladeprotrusions 14 are arranged in a lattice formation.

As shown in FIG. 6, the upper surfaces 15 of these multiple cuttingblade protrusions 14 are inclined surfaces made inclined in relation toa flat surface parallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, and thefour side surfaces of cutting blade protrusion 14 extend perpendicularlyfrom pedestal surface 13, and of the intersecting ridges of the fourside surfaces and the upper surface 15 (inclined surface), the cuttingblade ridge 16 is formed at the intersection ridge positioned at thelocation furthest separated from surface 11A of substrate 11.Furthermore, the height (height from surface 11A of substrate 11) ofcutting blade ridge 16 of all cutting blade protrusions 14 arereciprocally equal.

Then, with this embodiment, all cutting blade protrusions 14 arearranged in a lattice formation, and the upper surfaces 15 are arrangedto face in the same direction (direction D shown by FIG. 5) seen fromplane view opposed to surface 11A, specifically, the cutting bladeridges 16 are arranged to extend reciprocally in parallel while facingthe direction (direction C shown by FIG. 5) opposing the previousidentical direction.

By forming cutting blade protrusions 14 in this way, cutting bladeprotrusions 14 established in region I of FIG. 5 are arranged withinclined upper surfaces 15 within a range of ±45 degrees using toolrotation direction T as the center, and cutting blade protrusions 14established in region III are arranged with inclined upper surfaces 15within a range ±45 degrees using the direction opposite to tool rotationdirection T as the center. Therefore, cutting blade protrusions 14 inregion I and cutting blade protrusions 14 in region III each account for25% of the total cutting blade protrusions formed on substrate 11.

With the flexible material processing rotation tool of this structure,because upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 established inregion I are arranged within a range ±45 degrees using tool rotationdirection T as the center, and because upper surfaces 15 of cuttingblade protrusions 14 established in region III are arranged within arange ±45 degrees using the direction opposite to tool rotationdirection T as the center, even when pad P contacts from the rearwardside of tool rotation direction T with pad P rotating at high speed, itis possible to process pad P by deeply penetrating pad P with cuttingblade ridges 16 of cutting blade protrusions 14 having upper surfaces 15facing in tool rotation direction T (cutting blade protrusions 14established in region III), and it enables elimination of areas in whichprocessing is insufficient.

Furthermore, because the cutting blade protrusions 14 established inthese regions I and III each account for 25% of the total cutting bladeprotrusions 14 formed on substrate 11, it is possible to reliablyprocess pad P at the time of pad P contact from either the forward sideor rearward side of tool rotation direction T.

In addition, because a flexible material processing rotation tool ofthis structure allows all cutting blade protrusions 14 to be arranged ina lattice formation and allows formation so that all upper surfaces 15of cutting blade protrusions 14 face direction D as shown in FIG. 5, itis possible to manufacture this flexible material processing rotationtool with comparative ease.

Next, the following section describes a further embodiment of thisinvention. The flexible material processing rotation tool of thisinvention is shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. Furthermore, elements identicalto those of the previous are labeled with identical symbols and omittedfrom the description.

Substrate 11 of this flexible material processing rotation tool is anapproximately circular shape and has surface 11A reciprocally parallelto a bottom surface not shown in the drawing. In the peripheral regionof the radial peripheral side of surface 11A of substrate 11, multiplechips 20 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumference direction.As shown in FIG. 7, with this embodiment, there are 15 count of chips20, and they are arranged at intervals of 24 degrees.

Chip 20 is constructed with SiC (silicon carbide), and the surface ofchip 20 is a square surface, and it is arranged to be parallel to thebottom surface of substrate 11. A pedestal 12 is established protrudingupward in each of the four square-shaped corners on the upper surface ofchip 20, and one each cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed on one eachpedestal 12. Specifically, there are four cutting blade protrusions 14formed on a single chip 20, and there applied a total of 60 countcutting blade protrusions for the entire substrate 11.

Upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 are made inclinedrelative to a flat surface parallel to the upper surface of chip 20, andupper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 formed on a singlechip 20 are formed to face the same direction. Chips 20 are alternatelyarranged so that for every chip 20 with upper surfaces 15 of cuttingblade protrusions 14 facing the tool rotation direction T forward sidethere is an adjacent chip 20 facing the tool rotation direction Trearward side.

With the flexible material processing rotation tool of this structure,because cutting blade protrusions 14 are formed on chips 20 and becausechips 20 are fixed to surface 11A of substrate 11, it is possible toprocess only chips 20 for formation of cutting blade protrusions 14, andcutting blade protrusions 14 can be formed with greater precision.

Furthermore, regarding the form of this embodiment, it is described asforming substrate 11 and chip 20 with SiC (silicon carbide) forformation of pedestals 12 and cutting blade protrusions 14, but inrelation to materials for constructing substrate 11 and chip 20, it isacceptable to form with the following suitable materials, for example,to allow ease of formation of a gas phase synthetic diamond film 17,ease of formation of pedestals 12 and cutting blade protrusions 14, andmechanical properties for endurance in actual use.

-   (1) A metal of the 4 a group, 5 a group, or 6 a group, or a carbide,    nitride, or carbonic nitride with silicon, one type of a silicon, or    a silicon composite.-   (2) A metal of the 4 a group, 5 a group, or 6 a group, or a carbide,    nitride, or carbonic nitride with silicon, or at least one type of    carbonic nitride, or a super-hard alloy composed of a composite body    with at least one type of iron, nickel, or cobalt.-   (3) A nitride of silicon or aluminum, or one type of an oxide, or a    composite of these.

In addition, with this embodiment, the shape of pedestal 12 and cuttingblade protrusion 14 is a square shape, but it would be acceptable to useanother shape such as a round shape or triangular shape.

Furthermore, it is desirable to consider the processing conditions andappropriately select for factors such as the number and arrangement ofpedestals 12 and cutting blade protrusions 14 and for the diameter ofsubstrate 11.

Moreover, by forming the cutting blade ridge in the ridge area of theinclined ridge of upper surface 15 and the surface extending to cuttingblade ridge 16 from pedestal surface 13, the process is effectivebecause these ridges enable processing of pad P.

WORKING EXAMPLE 1

Hereafter, the results of the tested effectiveness of the invention areshown by executing a comparison test using an example of the invention.

As a test tool, a tool was provided by establishing of 60 countpedestals in a radiating pattern at equal circumferential intervals inthe surface periphery area of a substrate of 100 mm diameter formed withsilicon carbide (SiC), and forming one cutting blade protrusion on thepedestal surface of each pedestal. At this point, the pedestals wereformed with square pillar shape of 1.0 mm on each side and 0.3 mm inheight, and the cutting blade protrusions were formed in approximatelysquare shape with 0.15 mm on each side and a maximum height (cuttingblade ridge) of 0.05 mm. The total length L of cutting blade ridgesformed on the substrate was 9 mm. In addition, on the surface of thepedestals and cutting blade protrusions was formed a coating of gasphase diamond film of thickness approximately 20 μm.

With Comparison Example 1, the upper surface of the cutting bladeprotrusion was parallel in relation to the bottom surface of thesubstrate for the test.

With Comparison Example 2, the upper surface of the cutting bladeprotrusion was inclined at angle θ=10 degrees in relation to the bottomsurface of the substrate, and the inclined surface was arranged in theradial direction of the substrate, specifically, the cutting bladeprotrusions were arranged facing the direction that was not thecircumferential direction of the substrate for the test.

With Comparison Example 3, the upper surface of the cutting bladeprotrusion was inclined at angle θ=10 degrees in relation to the bottomsurface of the substrate, and the inclined surfaces of all the cuttingblade protrusions were arranged in one direction (tool rotationdirection rearward side) of the circumferential direction of thesubstrate for the test.

With Invention Example 1, the upper surface of the cutting bladeprotrusion was inclined at angle θ=5 degrees in relation to the bottomsurface of the substrate, and the inclined surfaces were alternatelyarranged with cutting blade protrusions formed to face one direction(tool rotation direction rearward side) for the circumferentialdirection of the substrate and adjacent cutting blade protrusions formedto face the other direction (tool rotation direction forward side) forthe circumferential direction of the substrate for the test.

With Invention Example 2, the upper surface of the cutting bladeprotrusion was inclined at angle θ=10 degrees in relation to the bottomsurface of the substrate, and the inclined surfaces were alternatelyarranged with cutting blade protrusions formed to face one direction(tool rotation direction rearward side) for the circumferentialdirection of the substrate and adjacent cutting blade protrusions formedto face the other direction (tool rotation direction forward side) forthe circumferential direction of the substrate for the test.

A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the testequipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400,Rodel Co.), and the polishing slurry was SiO₂ slurry (SS-25, Cabot Co.).

Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed(urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.

Evaluation items were the pad removal rate, by first measuring theheight of the foam urethane pad, applying the foam urethane pad to thepolishing test, measuring the height of the foam urethane pad afterpolishing, and calculating the amount removed during processing time bythe change in height of the foam urethane pad before and afterprocessing.

In addition, by measuring the height of the foam urethane pad afterprocessing at multiple points across the radial direction, the pad crosssectional shape was confirmed.

FIG. 12 shows the relationship of the pad removal rate and processingtime. With Comparison Example 1 and Comparison Example 2, the removalrate from test start was 10 μm/hour or less, and this confirmed thatsubstantially no processing was performed. This result cannot notsufficiently assure contact between the cutting blade ridges and padsurface due to pad deformation generated at time of pressure applicationof the cutting blade protrusions with a rotation tool having cuttingblade protrusions with upper surfaces parallel to the substrate surface,and the result is due to not concentrating the load on the cutting bladeridges because of contact between the entire upper surface of thecutting blade protrusion with the pad surface.

On the other hand, with Comparison Example 3, Invention Example 1, andInvention Example 2, the pad removal rate was 50 μm/hour or more even at10 hours elapsed time for the processing time, and this confirmed thatprocessing of the pad with stability over a long period was possible.

FIG. 13 shows the cross section shape of the pads after processing forComparison Example 3, Invention Example 1, and Invention Example 2. WithComparison Example 3, it was confirmed that areas almost entirely notprocessed did exist in the pad periphery. On the other hand, withInvention Example 1 and Invention Example 2, there was sufficientprocessing across the entire radial length of the pad, and there was norecognition of areas where processing was insufficient.

Accordingly, it was confirmed by this test that pad removal rate wasstable over long time period and that the entire pad surface could besufficiently processed by Invention Examples 1 and 2.

WORKING EXAMPLE 2

Next, the pad removal rate was compared after polishing the pad using ametal polishing slurry. In addition to the above described ComparisonExamples 1-3 and Invention Examples 1-2, there were applied InventionExamples 3-6 described as follows. Invention Examples 3-6 were identicalto Invention Examples 1-2 in arrangement of the cutting bladeprotrusions, but Invention Example 3 had angle θ=20 degrees for thecutting blade protrusion surface in relation to the bottom surface ofthe substrate, Invention Example 4 had angle θ=25 degrees, InventionExample 5 had angle θ=30 degrees, and Invention Example 6 had angle θ=35degrees.

A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the testequipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400,Rodel Co.), and a commercial iron nitrate group slurry (3% H₂O₂ added)was used as a metal polishing slurry.

Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed(urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.

FIG. 14 shows the relationship between the pad removal rate and theprocessing time. With Comparison Example 1 and Comparison Example 2,removal rate was 20 μm/hour or less from test start, and it wasconfirmed that there was substantially no processing of the pad evenwhen metal polishing slurry was used.

On the other hand, with Comparison Example 3 and Invention Examples 1-6,pad removal rate was 50 μm/hour or more even after processing time of 25hours had elapsed.

In addition, there was a trend for the initial pad removal rate to behigher to the extent that angle θ was larger, and with Invention Example6 having angle θ=35 degrees, it was confirmed that after elapse of 10minutes from usage start, pad removal rate dropped rapidly due to wearand damage to cutting blade ridges. In these conditions, it is confirmedthat the pad removal rate has long-term stability when angle θ is setwithin a range of 5 degrees −30 degrees.

WORKING EXAMPLE 3

Next, a comparison was made for the pad removal rate after use with anoxide film slurry. The test used above described Comparison Examples1-3, Invention Examples 1, 2, 4, 6, and hereafter described InventionExamples 7-8. Invention Examples 7-8 were identical to InventionExamples 1-6 for arrangement of cutting blade protrusions, and InventionExample 7 had angle θ=40 degrees for the cutting blade protrusionsurface in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, andInvention Example 8 had angle θ=45 degrees.

Furthermore, the oxide film slurry was weaker in corrosiveness than ametal polishing slurry.

A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the testequipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400,Rodel Co.), and the oxide film slurry was a KOH group colloidal silica.

Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed(urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min. FIG. 15 shows therelationship between pad removal rate and processing time. WithComparison Example 1 and Comparison Example 2, removal rate was 20μm/hour or less from test start, and it was confirmed that no padprocessing occurred even when using oxide film slurry.

On the other hand, Comparison Example 3 and Invention Examples 1-6 had apad removal rate of 50 μm/hour even after processing time of 25 hourshad elapsed.

In addition, when the oxide film slurry was used, a rapid fall in padremoval rate was not recognized even with Invention Example 6 havingangle θ=35 degrees, but with Invention Example 8 having angle θ=45degrees there was confirmed a rapid drop in pad removal rate due to wearand damage to cutting blade protrusions after 20 minutes elapsed fromusage start. For these conditions, when angle θ is within a range of 5degrees −40 degrees, it is confirmed that pad removal rate is stableover long time periods.

WORKING EXAMPLE 4

Next, a test was conducted to confirm the relationship between padremoval rate and the height of cutting blade ridges. Invention Example 2was used (cutting blade ridge height H=0.05 mm), and hereafter describedInvention Examples 9-14 were applied. Invention Example 9 was identicalto Invention Example 2 in arrangement of cutting blade protrusions andangle θ, and had height H=0.01 mm, Invention Example 10 had heightH=0.03 mm, Invention Example 11 had height H=0.08 mm, Invention Example12 had height H=0.1 mm, Invention Example 13 had height H=0.15 mm, andInvention Example 14 had height H=0.2 mm.

A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the testequipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400,Rodel Co.), and a commercial iron nitrate group slurry (3% H₂O₂ added)was used as a metal polishing slurry.

Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed(urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.

FIG. 16 shows the relationship between pad removal rate and processingtime. The trend was for pad removal rate to become greater as the heightH for the cutting blade ridges was higher, and especially with InventionExample 9 having height H=0.01 mm, the depth of cutting blade ridgepenetration to the pad was shallow, and it was confirmed that padremoval rate was low. In addition, Invention Examples 12, 13, 14 havingheight H=0.1 mm or more, the depth of cutting blade ridge penetration tothe pad was sufficiently deep, the pad removal rate had high stability,and basically no change was recognized by height. Accordingly, under thetest conditions currently used, it is desirable to set height H within arange of 0.03 mm-0.15 mm.

WORKING EXAMPLE 5

Next, a test was conducted to confirm the relationship between the padremoval rate and the total length of the cutting blade ridges. For thetest, the following Invention Examples 15-19 were used. InventionExample 15 was identical to Invention Example 2 for arrangement ofcutting blade protrusions, angle θ, and height H, and total length ofcutting blade ridges formed on the substrate was L=3 mm, with InventionExample 16 total length L=7.5 mm, with Invention Example 17 total lengthL=27 mm, with Invention Example 18 total length L=80 mm, and withInvention Example 19 total length L=150 mm.

A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the testequipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400,Rodel Co.), and a commercial iron nitrate group slurry (3% H₂O₂ added)was used as a metal polishing slurry.

Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed(urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.

FIG. 17 shows the relationship between pad removal rate and processingtime. With Invention Example 15 having total length L=3 mm and InventionExample 19 having total length L=150 mm, it was confirmed that padremoval rate was 40 μm/hour or less. Accordingly, under theseconditions, it is desirable to set the total length L for cutting bladeridges formed on the substrate within a range of 7.5 mm-80 mm.

1. A flexible material processing rotation tool for processing a targetmaterial which is composed of flexible material and is moving,comprising: a substrate having a surface: two or more cutting bladeprotrusions protruding upwards formed on the surface of the substrate;the upper surfaces of the cutting blade protrusions are inclinedsurfaces inclined in relation to a parallel flat surface on a bottomsurface of said substrate; and of a cutting blade ridge formed on atleast the part of the inclined surface protruding furthest upward;wherein the inclined surfaces of a portion of the cutting bladeprotrusions are arranged to face at least one circumferential directionfor rotation of the substrate, and at least a portion of the inclinedsurfaces of the remaining cutting blade protrusions are arranged to faceat least the other circumferential direction.
 2. The flexible materialsprocessing rotation tool according to claim 1 further comprising anangle θ formed between the inclined surfaces and the parallel flatsurface on the bottom surface being set within a range of 5 degrees≦θ<40degrees.
 3. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according toclaim 1 wherein the cutting blade protrusions are arranged on a surfaceof pedestals protruding upward from the substrate.
 4. The flexiblematerials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 wherein thecutting blade protrusions are formed of abrasion resistant material. 5.The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1wherein the surfaces of the cutting blade protrusions are coated with adiamond film.
 6. The flexible materials processing rotation toolaccording to claim 1 further comprising a height of the areas formed bythe cutting blade ridges of the cutting blade protrusions is within arange of 0.03 mm to 0.15 mm.
 7. The flexible materials processingrotation tool according to claim 1 further comprising a total length forsummed lengths of all cutting blade ridges formed on the surfaces of thesubstrate are within a range of 7.5 mm to 80 mm.
 8. The flexiblematerials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 furthercomprising a pad conditioner for conditioning a CMP polishing pad.